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USS is fifty years young. Learn more about our history on our dedicated page.

Value for money

Delivering value for money is a key focus for USS and our performance in this area is reviewed in depth by the trustee on an annual basis

We score well in each area

  • We are consistently less expensive in total than our peer group*

    CEM Benchmarking (a leading independent benchmarking organisation) compares us to a peer group. In the latest available comparison (calendar year 2023), we were significantly less expensive in total than our peer group (£62m or 8bps). The substantial advantage in investment management more than offsets the higher pension administration/scheme governance cost.

    *Costs are presented on the CEM basis. Scheme costs reported in the Financial review and Value for Money section of the 31 March 2025 annual Report and Accounts are £286m.

  • We scored 3rd highest for member service overall

    CEM scored us 3rd highest overall compared to our pension administration peer group in the latest survey and very close to the top two (our score was 72 out of 100, above the peer median of 63).

    We scored top for active members. The development of our secure member portal, improved services for vulnerable members and our social media communications have improved our score over time.

    We saw an improved pensioner score ranking to 3rd this year. We score higher than peers for newsletters and telephony, though some peers have greater digital functionality.

  • DB and DC balanced scorecards rated Average to Good this year, marginally below target

    We introduced the DB investment balanced scorecard in 2022, with the DC scorecard introduced in 2023. This allows the trustee to holistically assess USSIM’s investment and advisory performance.

    You can see how the Investment Committee assessed USSIM’s performance on our investment balanced scorecard pages.

    Learn more about the DB scorecard

    Learn more about the DC scorecard

We score well in a global pensions transparency benchmark, with a rating of 77 compared with a UK average of 61

To ensure we inform stakeholders about how their scheme is managed, we provide updates including investment and cost performance via a range of published and face-to-face mechanisms. CEM and Top1000funds.com report that we provide a greater level of transparency of disclosures compared with a peer group of 75 pension funds from 15 countries. We received a transparency rating of 77, compared with a UK average of 61 and a global average of 63. The analysis considered performance, governance, cost, responsible investing, and integrated reporting disclosures.